The conventional golf club bag is made of flexible fabric and is generally unsuitable for use in transporting the golf clubs safely from place to place. There are also some problems in use on the golf course itself. The selection of any particular club from the bag often involves disentangling the handles of the clubs. Similarly, the return of a club to the bag is often inconvenient, and may result in scratching the handles of the clubs.
When the clubs are used in wet weather, water may accumulate on the clubs, and may drain into the bottom of the bag, or be transformed onto the other clubs. In addition, clubs stored after usage are likely to suffer damage from dampness.
Proposals have been made in the past for the design of a more rigid bag, providing greater protection for the clubs. In addition, the use of tubular sheaths for club handles is well-known.
One such proposal is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,559,709. The design of the bag shown in that patent is relatively cumbersome and clumsy, and while providing adequate protection for the clubs during transit or shipment, fails to satisfactorily solve the other problems. It is excessively complex to design and build and involves the fabrication of a relatively large number of different component parts which must then be fastened together.
It is, therefore, a general objective of the invention to provide a rigid golf bag for golf clubs which provides adequate control over the shafts of the clubs, while providing for relatively free circulation of air, and which provides for removal of water, and which is adaptable for use in shipping and in transit of the clubs, and is also readily available for use as a golf cart on the golf course, and which may be fabricated out of a smaller number of components, providing greater strength and utility in the end product at a more economical price, and with less material and, therefore, less weight.